Metal Bicyclic Amidinates

1. A metal bicyclic amidinate comprising one or more metals and one or more bicyclic amidinate ligands with the general structure wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 , R 8 , and R 9 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrocarbon groups, substituted hydrocarbon groups, and other groups of non-metallic atoms, and wherein the one or more bicyclic amidinate ligands are bonded to the one or more metals.

2. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 1 , being a metal(I) bicyclic amidinate represented either by the general formula for dimers or by oligomers of the same monomeric unit, wherein: M 1 represents the one or more metals and is a metal(I) selected from the group consisting of copper, silver, gold, iridium, thallium, lithium, sodium, and potassium; represents the one or more bicyclic amidinate ligands with the general structure and L n represents a neutral donor ligand present in amounts n=0, 1, 2 or more.

3. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 2 , having the chemical name 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-1,2,3,3a,4,5-hexahydropyrrolo[2,3-b]pyrrolyl copper(I) dimer and having the formula:

4. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 2 , having the chemical name 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-1,2,3,3a,4,5-hexahydropyrrolo[2,3-b]pyrrolyl silver(I) tetramer and having the formula:

5. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 2 , having the chemical name 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-1,2,3,3a,4,5-hexahydropyrrolo[2,3-b]pyrrolyl gold(I) dimer and having the formula:

6. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 1 , being a metal(II) bis(bicyclic amidinate) represented either by the general formula or by its oligomers, wherein: M 2 represents the one or more metals and is a metal(II) selected from the group consisting of nickel, cobalt, chromium, iron, beryllium, magnesium, copper, zinc, titanium, vanadium, platinum, palladium, manganese, ruthenium, tin, cadmium, calcium, europium, strontium, lead, barium, and tellurium; represents the one or more bicyclic amidinate ligands with the general structure and L n represents a neutral donor ligand present in amounts n=0, 1, 2 or more.

7. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 6 , having the chemical name bis(3a-ethyl-2,2-dimethyl-1,2,3,3a,4,5-hexahydropyrrolo[2,3-b]pyrrolyl)nickel(II) and having the formula:

8. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 6 , having the chemical name bis(2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-1,2,3,3a,4,5-hexahydropyrrolo[2,3-b]pyrrolyl)ruthenium(II) dicarbonyl and having the formula:

9. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 1 , being a metal(III) tris(amidinate) represented either by the general formula or by its oligomers, wherein: M 3 represents the one or more metals and is a metal(III) selected from the group consisting of aluminum, cobalt, iron, chromium, gallium, vanadium, titanium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium, iridium, molybdenum, tungsten, niobium, tantalum, scandium, antimony, indium, lutetium, ytterbium, thulium, erbium, thallium, yttrium, holmium, dysprosium, terbium, gadolinium, europium, samarium, neodymium, praseodymium, cerium, lanthanum, bismuth, and uranium; and represents the one or more bicyclic amidinate ligands with the general structure

10. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 9 , having the chemical name tris(2, 5-dimethyl-1,2,3,3a,4,5-hexahydropyrrolo[2,3-b]pyrrolyl)lanthanum(III) and having the formula:

11. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 1 , being a metal(IV) tetrakis(bicyclic-amidinate) represented either by the general formula or by its oligomers, wherein: M 4 represents the one or more metals and is a metal(IV) selected from the group consisting of zirconium, hafnium, tin, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, molybdenum, uranium, rhenium, platinum, osmium, iridium, ruthenium, palladium, titanium, rhodium, vanadium, tellurium, cerium, and lead; and represents the one or more bicyclic amidinate ligands with the general structure

12. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 11 , having the chemical name tetrakis(1,2,3,3a,4,5-hexahydropyrrolo[2,3-b]pyrrolyl) metal(IV) and having the formula:

13. The metal bicyclic amidinate of claim 12 , wherein M 4 is zirconium or hafnium.